WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: Facebook CAPTCHA verification, when is account verification required (for social media accessibility study)

for

From: Angela French
Date: Apr 28, 2011 9:27AM


I just assumed it was some sort of cookie, because I have had to do it at home on the same computer if I try to access my FB account from different user accounts.

-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED> [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Keith (mteye)
Sent: Thursday, April 28, 2011 7:55 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Facebook CAPTCHA verification, when is account verification required (for social media accessibility study)

It probably is by a DNS lookup of the IP that is accessing the site. It makes sense, as most people don't travel widely. Even in accessing the facebook page by cell phone, most people are within a small area. When the account is accessed from a signifacant distance, it could be construed that a malicious attacker is hijacking the account. The verfication process is definitely a pain, but there is an audio verification as well as the graphic one. Inconvenient as it may be, my personal take is that it's all in trying to protect valid users, and guard privacy.

from
Keith H.

-----Original Message-----
From: Birkir R. Gunnarsson
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2011 11:15 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: [WebAIM] Facebook CAPTCHA verification, when is account verification required (for social media accessibility study)

Hi everyone and sorry if this seems very off topic.

I am participating in a study of m.facebook.com and other Facebook accessibility alternatives for visually impaired users.
We have been wondering when Facebook requires users to verify their accounts using CAPTCHA and what rules apply.
Of course they do when they create their account in, but, in my own experience, Faceook also requires account verification whenever a user changes locations significantly (I have experienced this when traveling from NC to California and of course when travelling within Europe).
I do not know precisely how they do this, some type of DNS look up, or what criteria they use, but if someone has actually worked with this and can point me to a page with rules on when users will be required to verify their account (by using CAPTCHA) it would be a very useful information tidbit for the paper.
Thanks everyone.
-Birkir